The new reforms plan and package of proposals with special focus on poor rural women will be presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender Equality within a month.

The financing package will be used by Nations Trust Bank to help small and medium sized enterprises and corporates to stay afloat during the ongoing public health crisis.

This is the first foreign equity placement by Commercial Bank, the first post-pandemic equity placement by the IFC and is one of the largest foreign investments into Sri Lanka since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka’s HNB has reported a smooth transition to contactless remittance transactions parallel to rising demand for digital remittances and cardless withdrawals during the coronavirus lockdown.

The funding will be used to expand lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, with over a third dedicated to businesses owned by women.

The unprecedented crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic has severely dented Sri Lanka’s economy, causing a steep fall in the earnings from tourism, remittances and outflow of foreign investment, the nation’s central bank has said.